Scene Set For Women's Sevens Opener In Dubai

With less than a day to go until kick-off, the captains of the 12 international teams from across five continents have gathered in Dubai ahead of the second IRB Women's Sevens World Series.

7he Sevens Stadium will play host to the world-class event as part of the Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens, the annual tournament that attracts thousands of spectators to the unique venue in the United Arab Emirates.

New Zealand won the inaugural competition last season and went on to claim the maiden Series, but they know that the competition will be tougher this time around.

"Every single team here is good quality, and there are no weak links that I've seen," said New Zealand captain Huriana Manuel, whose side will face World Series debutants Ireland in the pool stages.

"We've got a lot to work on from last year, we've got new, young players in the squad and I'm excited to play with those girls. From our side of things, preparations have been going well and we're all set for kick-off."

Canada open the proceedings on Thursday when they face France, and their captain Ghislaine Landry is in the mood to cause an upset this year.

"We started off a little slow last year, but by the end we finished third in the Series. We're looking to build on that," she admitted.

"I've noticed this week that every team is focused and really putting in the hard work. There are no teams in the Series this year that you can take lightly."

Meanwhile, all 12 squads for the first round of the Series has been announced. Click here for the final squads.

IRB General Manager for Sevens, Avan Lee, said: "We're really excited about the start of the Women's Sevens World Series."

"Last season was a great success and fans were treated to some great rugby. New Zealand's women were very impressive in winning both the Series and then the Rugby World Cup Sevens, but they'll face tougher competition this year, especially with teams hoping to make their way to the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016."

The IRB Women's Sevens World Series will be streamed live on wsws.irb.com from Dubai, beginning at 1pm local time/9am Irish time tomorrow (Thursday).

Jon Skurr's Ireland squad open the tournament against the USA at 10.06am Irish time, with the Americans having won 14-5 when the sides met in the quarter-finals of the World Cup Sevens in Moscow.

New Zealand - the defending Dubai and World Series champions as well as Rugby World Cup Sevens winners - will be Ireland's next opponents at 12.42pm, while their final game in Pool A will be against the fast-improving Fijians (3.40pm).

Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Russia, Spain and USA are core teams on the 2013/14 IRB Women's Sevens World Series circuit after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2013 World Cup Sevens.

Looking forward to facing England on Sunday, Ireland winger Tommy Bowe said: "We've trained very well this week, we're really excited about the game. It's about going out there and doing whatever we can to get ourselves that win."

Second row Devin Toner previews Ireland's crunch RBS 6 Nations clash with England, saying: "It's a pretty formidable English pack. Attwood and Kruis have played fantastically well. They're well drilled and focused and their scrum and lineout are very good."

Looking forward to facing England this weekend, Ireland back rower Sean O'Brien said: "It's obviously exciting, but it's one game at a time. I don't think there's any more pressure on us than in the first two games. That's the way you have to look at it."

Irish Rugby TV sat down with Ireland Under-20 scrum coach John Fogarty to talk about the U-20 Six Nations so far and Friday's clash with England at Donnybrook. Tickets are on sale on www.ticketmaster.ie.

Shane Byrne and Malcolm O'Kelly preview the Ireland v England Legends match which takes place at Donnybrook this coming Saturday (kick-off 7.30pm). Tickets are available from www.ticketmaster.ie. All proceeds from the game will go to support the IRFU Charitable Trust and the RFU All Schools Charity.

Watch highlights from the Ireland team announcement press conference as Joe Schmidt reveals the team to play France. Peter O'Mahony says it is good to 'have some big figures back' for Saturday's clash.